The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-03
IMPROVEMENT IN COOKING.
An Invention which VIII Prove "a Boon
to Housekeepers-


write for the newspapers under an alias,
lest in attempting to- give useful lnfor-
nation, l may appear to TIE seeking
nOtoriety. Having made another im-
provement in cooking, desire to make
use of your columns to- give information
about it. The secret of the Aladdin
cooker, in which the heart is impaired
to the vessels in which the food to be
cooked, has been placed, is by means of
the circulation of hot water outside of
the cooking vessel, in a non-conduct-
ing chamber made of pine wood. Sue
cess in this suggested To me that might
make an oven in which dry heat might
be conveyed to the outside of "a cooking
or roasting oven but inside a chamber
made with noncOnducting walls. L
therefore had constructed a double wall
ed oven made of galvanized iron. with
a space between the two walls of one
and half inches. This space L filled
with carbonate of magnesia, which is
one of the lightest and at the same time
one of the most perfect of tine non heat
conducting, but incombustible, mate
rails. On one side of this outer oven is
a flue which receives the heat from the
top of "A cooking lamp placed underneath.
Devices are adopted, which may be per-
fected by an expert, to give direction
to the current of heat so that it may pass
iron, in which the cooking andr casting
are done. At the top of this fiue placed
common brick to- receive the first
stroke of the heat and protect the meal
from being burned.
The inner sheet iron oven is separated
from the inner wall of the outer oven by
| an inch space, | think a somewhat
larger space would be better. The inner
oven is also set up ON legs, SO that the
mo- Il a
ventilator from the top of the inner oven
to the top wall of the outer oven, which
can be made use of when expedient. The
door of the outer oven is also double
walled, and is filled in with the carbon
ate of magnesia. NV inner oven, in one
example, is 20 inches wide, IL inches
| deep and Is inches high, with a remOv-
able shelf midway between the top ana
the bottom use as NV source of heat
| one of the lamps which are now made
| for the ordinary kerosene stoves, with a
wick six inches wide. l have not accu-
rately measured its capacity, but suppose
| il burns about one quart of oil in eight
hours. if put at its full height. L don't
| think the wall of my outer oven is quite
| thick enough, as there is good deal of
waste of heat by radiation, but can raise
the heat of the upper chamber of the IN
ner oven, above the shell, to $50 Fair. in
/ less litttl NAN nave hot ytt
| accurately taken the measure of the heat
| in the lower chamber. and | am making
| some slight changes by which greater
| portion of the heat will be impaired to
the lower division. / have as yet used
| only the upper chamber above the shelf
for cooking purposes. In that chamber
/ | have roasted very perfectly a lO-ponud
sirloin of beef. at the same time thor
oughly baked deep apple pudding of
dowdy. | have also baked several patches
of the most excellent bread. also Eng
lish mullins and Yankee gingerbread.
Yesterday | roasted a 16-pound sirloin of
beef, but, keeping it i'll for five hours, ii
was little too much done. | computed
the cost of the oil expended at not ex-
ceeding | J cents.
An incidental advantage i'll the use of
this apparatus was that both the cook
and myself were able to go tC
church. no attention being required foI
the oven between 10 O'Clock a. M. and
y. IN. The remainder of the dinner
was prepared in the usual way after the
cook returned from church. n part OF
the dessert consisted of three loaves of
excellent cake baked in a smaller oven
of the same kind in an hour, with the
heat impaired from a lamp having a four
inch wick, known as the Florence lamp
|
are two inches thick, l have raised the
heat to 4Jo Fair. and can maintain il
at that point for any length of time, with
substantial uniformity.
In view of the fact that the Aladdin
cooker previously described in your col
umns makes its way slowly because il
was not patented, L applied for a patent
on this apparatus, but | find that the ex
act m ethod has been previously in
vented, described and patented by w
Goddard in the year 1881. His source OF
heat is described as a small furnace
placed underneath the oven. As there
was no kerosene oil at that time, and nc
other economic source of heat by burn
ing a lamp, the invention, apparently
fell unused. Therefore, this invention
is public property, for whatever it may
be worth.
NAV add that the Aladdin cooker
has been improved. 1t is now built by
Mr.. y. W. Westgate of Mattapoisett
two stories high. the upper chamber be
ing divided off from the lower one inside
by perforated plate. The cone, which
receives the heat from the IamI
chimney. has been SO enlarged anC
modified as to increase the heating ser
vice, and il Is now easy to- boil the water
around a large pot placed in the. lower
chamber. in which the meat Is simmeret
in its own juices. but is not boiled
Placing for instance, "A leg of mutton in
a stone pot in the lower chamber and
starting with with cold water around it
the water will he brought To boil in
about an hour an half. In the mean
time the mutton is being slowly sim
mered in the best manner. a 10-pounC
leg of mutton cooked in this way require,
| about three and n half hours to bring i
to perfection.
About an hour before the time of serv
ing, porcelain pots containing potatoes
or other roots. rice or maccaroni. may
be placed in the upper chamber, wher,
they will be cooked by steam. | ma,
! also add that by the use of one of tn,
dry ovens and one of the two-story cook
ers, dinner of four courses has beer
prepared for my family and my guest
with two lamps. the dry oven bein.
placed in the pantry and the simmerin.
oven in an alcove of the dining room
The only odor perceptible during tn,
| process was the pleasant OdOr of the ap
pies in the pan-dOwdy, from which a con
siderable evaporation seems To have &C
Cured. The number of persons in tn
household who partoOk of this Dime
was fifteen.
Ii is now safe to say that a summel
kitchen may b. arranged. of two-laml
power. for the use of a family of fifteer
or twenty persons. With the addition o
a grill, under which charcoal may b
) used. broiling and frying may be adde'
to the service. l may add, however
that steak hung free in the small ovei
at 400 Fair. is cooked in such a wa,
that 1t would he difficult for one To dis
tlngulsh II from a broiled steak if blind
folded.
Hoping that some practical stove build
ers and professional cooks may develol
these crude inventions. beg to submit
, them, through you, to all parties inter
[ .zsr.aH